Microbiological and molecular aspects of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from bovine mastitis in West-Central Brazil

Abstract

Bovine mastitis is a major disease affecting dairy cattle, and Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most important agent involved in this condition due to its capacity to produce enterotoxins and develop resistance to antimicrobial agents. This study aimed to detect S. aureus strains in milk samples from cows with subclinical mastitis employing microbiological and molecular analysis. Eleven farms were visited and from 187 lactating cows sampled, 33 S. aureus strains were isolated. Only one of the 33 strains was positive for mecA resistance gene, 23 were positive for sea enterotoxin gene, and none was positive for seb or sec enterotoxin gene. S. aureus strains were submitted to in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility test and 63.6% (21/33) were susceptible to all antimicrobials tested, while 36.3% (12/33) were resistant to one or more antimicrobial agents. Identification of mecA and the sea genes highlighted the need to elaborate strategies to reduce problems related to animal. Furthermore, the identification of bovine mastitis caused by S. aureus is very important to manage herd and to public health, since milk contaminated by this pathogen can lead to serious health problems.